APWorldHistoryWiki - Economic and Social Change; Gentry, Commoners, Soldiers, and Mean People (735-738)

Economic and Social Change; Gentry, Commoners, Soldiers, and Mean People (735-738)
Privileged Classes

Scholar bureaucrats and gentry occupied the most exalted positions in Chinese society
the gentry were slightly lower than the scholar bureaucrats
Scholar-Bureaucrats had things in common with gentry: from gentry ranks and with a gentry society (DW)
they functioned as intermediaries between the imperial government and local society
they wore black gowns with rank insignia
Addressed with honorific terms and fair legal treatment (DW)
received favorable legal treatment and couldn't be witnesses in legal proceedings
did not have to pay taxes and were immune to corporal punishment (KH)
most gentry used their land for income and also operated pawn and rice shops
their primary source of income was the government service which only they had access to by virtue of their academic degrees
resided in cities and towns

(MR)
Working Classes

There were three classes below the gentry: peasants, artisans/workers, and merchants
the biggest class was the peasants, they were regarded as the most honorable because of their work and they provided food for population
peasants were classified as day laborers, farmers, and petty landlords (KH)
artisans and workers had higher income than peasants
were usually employees of the state or of gentry and merchant families
Thought of themselves as self-employed people (KH)

(MR)

Merchants

Merchants were at the bottom of the three classes
Moralists looked upon them as unscrupulous social parasites (DW)
had little legal protection
got support for their enterprises through bribery or profit-sharing arrangements
merchants provided their sons with education to prepare them for government examinations
this could lead to a promotion to the gentry status
Chinese did not adopt policies to strengthen merchants and state (DW)

(MR)

Lower Classes

Members of the military force and "mean people" were beyond the Confucian social hierarchy
Confucians thought of the military as a wretched but necessary evil
Confucians attempted to avoid military dominance of society by placing civilian bureaucrats in high government positions
"Mean people" included slaves, indentured servants, prostitutes, entertainers.

(KH)